Critical minerals factor into the fight.

Rwanda-backed rebels claimed on Monday they captured eastern Congo’s strategic city of Goma, the hub of a region containing trillions of dollars in mineral wealth that remains largely untapped.

Advances being made by the M23 rebel group in the Democratic Republic of Congo are "heightening the threat of a regional war," according to U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwandan-backed rebels have overrun the city of Goma, sparking concerns at the U.N. of a wider regional war.

Israeli Arbel Yehoud, 29, who had been held hostage by Hamas in Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, is escorted by Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters as she is handed over to the Red Cross in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Thursday Jan. 30, 2025. Abdel Kareem Hana/AP

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The Congolese government forces (FARDC), fighting alongside a coalition of other forces, recently intensified their battle against the March 23 Movement (M23) in the eastern DR Congo. In response, the M23,

Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix Tshisekedi has vowed “a vigorous and coordinated response” against a rebel alliance that has besieged swaths of the nation’s mineral-rich east and forced hundreds of local troops and foreign mercenaries to surrender.

On January 27, the March 23 (M23) rebel movement in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo entered Goma and took control of major parts of the city. The M23’s movement into Goma is a drastic escalation in what has been cycles of violence, rebellion, and international engagement in the region.

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Many of the millions of people trapped in eastern Congo’s escalating rebellion face a terrible choice: Retreat into Congo’s interior and seek the protection of an army in disarray, or cross into nearby Rwanda,